The only thing my freehand drawing teacher ever taught me was "draw what you see," and it was the best art lesson I ever had.

My first architectural freehand drawing class ten years ago was fantastic. The Milwaukee Art Museum was on the brink of breaking ground for its Calatrava addition, and it sponsored a Saturday afternoon Art of Architecture sketching class for high school students. A sole practitioner - who I just looked up this week coincidentally - taught the course. He combined in-class lectures with walking/sketching tours of downtown Milwaukee. The course really fostered a love of architecture within me, and I am grateful to have had the opportunity.

I'm sorry to hear that your sketching course isn't going as well. Like almost anything in architecture, it's hard to - as you say - get better at it by yourself. You constantly need feedback if you are going to improve. (Even recently, my project manager criticized my sketching ability and helped me to improve.) Perhaps you could seek the help of an upperclass student - I'm sure they would be flattered if you asked them to assist you in learning how to sketch better.

go get a betty edwards book and turn off the tv.

hah. my high school art teacher was totally into betty edwards. we even had a bit in fine arts at uni. always with the quick drwg and never looking at the paper, or not removing the pen, and all that. i suppose it was good stuff. i don't know cuz i started dwg seriously before my teens and found the exercises a bit silly....

still. the thing about drawing is that it can not be taught, at least not in the way math can, with demonstrations. the only way to learn is to practice. go to a museum, copy a painting or dwg you like, or draw a sculpture, people, cows, cars, comic book character, whatever turns you on. and experiment with materials, collages, glue, pen, conte, blood, coffee, etc etc.

i used to sit in the uni cafeteria and draw people coming and going for about 2 hours every day...and i drew constantly, easily spending most of my waking moments painting or dwg for well over 10 years. and i slowly became fairly good. i don't know of any other way to learn. sorry.

as for perspective dwg and all that, well if you want to learn there are lots of books out there that teach the method. it isn't hard. i have learned it and used it ages and ages ago, but am not so concerned with being technical when sketching ideas. not sure of the point really. computer or sketch physical models take care of renderings when it comes time.

your teacher sounds weak, but that don't mean you should be. do what vado says, or else just get out and draw and see what happens. nothing time won't fix, anyway.

My first drawing class was in undergrad, the teacher's name was Gottesegen. We had this fat male model with devilish eyebrows. I spent a very exciting semester drawing fat rolls arranged in classical poses with Gottesegen standing behind us reciting stern matras like "draw the whole picture at once" "erase, erase, erase!" "find the line" and so on.

It was really great, all sacasm aside. Very formative. Sucks that people's first drawing classes seem so pointless.

Yeah, I ended up learning basic perspective methods on my own after my high school drawing class ended. But really, that isn't my primary concern, and I should have been more clear. My own drawing ability at this time is not an issue for me; I am more interested in the different pedogical approachs to learning to draw that users on this site may have experienced, and what they feel may have benefited them the most.

Right now I am questioning the value of my university drawing studio. I have been studious in practicing my drawing, so I find it annoying to have to go to class and draw the same boring foliage in the courtyard for 3 hours. I wonder how long we will be drawing from observation, when really I think it may be more important to be working on visuallization. I understand the former influences the latter, but I hope with time there will be more emphasis on idea generation and sketching!

Vado Retro, I don't own a tv, and I don't find anthing unique about Betty Edwards' approach. It looks like she just compiled other people's methods and psychology into her own book.

wow, sorry to hear so many have had bad teachers. mine were excellent, instilling a need to really understand and study what you're drawing, on a structural and compositional level first, before you lay down any graphite/charcoal/conte/whatever.
i disagree that art can't be taught, i've seen very 'untalented' people create very beautiful works under the tutelage of a great teacher. great fundamentals and understanding of the medium are indespensible, and should be of utmost importance for beginning classes, and unfortunately sounds like they're not......practice doesn't make perfect though, perfect practice does however.

oh, i didn't say that dwg can't be learned, jus that it can't be taught, in the sense that some one shows you how to do something.

fundamentals and understanding are dangerous things and should be avoided at all costs.

mine was a crazy brazilian man with a bald head, ponytail with a poor english accent but he was hilarious. such a character and very friendly.

we did a variety of freehand classes ranging from still life to going out exploring the local area sketching all kind sof things. it helped encourage people to simply LOOK at things . . . a bit of an underated skill as an architect.

I disagree, jump--drawing ABSOLUTELY can be taught! There is absolutely a technique and a skillset to it than can be taught and learned just the way math is... that may not be where the best life of the drawing is going to be found--that part does come from within the artist--but everyone can learn to at least master the skillset.

I had an AMAZING drawing teacher in college. He had been the dept. head for years previously and was also credited with forming our studio-based curriculum, coincidentally. Anyway he was an excellent communicator, worked us hard, and even those of us who could draw decently before the class still improved under him. (I improved considerably, and solely because of the way he taught me to look at things and understand things.) We had him for 3 semesters and I will always rermember them as some of the best learning times of my life. And I draw quite well now, thankfully.

Be cool to see some freehand or design sketches from archinecters people posting here. Care to share your talents, anyone?

Thinking....you never met Kirby Lockard.....Author of "Design Drawing." I will always recall him saying: I will teach you who can think how to draw and those who can draw how to think. I'm Sure
LB also had him at U of A.

My teacher kept talking about "gestural drawing", which I did not grasp until we did life drawing of a nude model, which I guess loosened me up a bit.

I agree that drawing, like anything, improves the most with lots of practice and focused effort. I also believe anyone can do it, if they want to and give it time.

feeling foollishly emboldened by rim joists request for images....

here are a few sketches, 1 in pencil and a few details of dwgs with ink and brush ( i stopped using pencils when i first came to japan) Most of the images are live, with each dwg taking about 20 -30 minutes. so not exactly "sketches" , but absolutely freehand and done on the fly, mistakes and all.

for no good reason (though maybe others would see it as a blessing) i stopped drawing and painting about 10 years ago, so most of these are at least that old... but at risk of being panned....

great work jump, why did you abandon the pencil! you've inspired me to post some graphite work done a long time ago (who has time to draw anymore?) (there a little fuzzy...took digital pics of them, sorry)

deloozer, here is my piece of advice to from a recent college grad:

Don't fall into an idea that teachers are actually suppose to teach, it is up to you, teachers are there only to judge. So don't be slacking around, complaining about teachers, and get that project started! Thinking is not as important as doing!

good luck with your education!

design junky,

i stopped using the pencil cuz when i first moved to japan it was to learn to paint in sumi, which is based on not reworking an image...and while i stopped painting i rather like that i can't fix my mistakes when i draw...

My first drawing class was probably my most memorable class in college. It was taught by a foreign profesor who had tought for many years at the school and at the time was head of the graduate program. From what I remember he really did try to teach, and we did many different drawing exercises during class. I had never taken a drawing class before this, I did take three years of drafting in high school where we did perspectives but never freehand drawing. When I started the class it was obvious that most of the students already could draw at a pretty high level. Anyways what makes the class memorable is that halfway through the semester after an individual critique of a set of drawings he told me there is no way that I could possibly ever be an architect and that I should quit the architecture program. I did not quite the program, and to be honest do not ever remember another bad critique of my work all through studio. Although I remember many times when students from that art class were later ripped to shreds during studios.

I still do not draw "artwork" freehand that well, but have always been able to sketch and draft well. I still have not run into it really being a problem at work, however as a pride thing I would still like to improve my drawing skills (also I do a considerable amount of the design on projects).

craig hankin... best studio professor i've ever had in my life.

he teaches at johns hopkins university. he's an amazing teacher.

My drawing professor was GREAT, I remember him showing a slide of a drawing he made of a cafe in Europe somewhere. He proceeded to recreate the drawing with chalk on a chalkboard behind him, while facing the class and describing the perspectival and spatial nuances. He taught us everything about perspective, even had us drawing in perspective from slides of Bryce Canyon. Yet he described his own very cool work as 'anti-perspective' and had a great story about when he "became angry at perspective." I still use things he taught me (like 'flurry of lines') to teach friends to draw what they think they can't.

link to some of his work

HAHAHAHA FRO!!! I was all poised to comment, "my drawing teacher taught us to draw perspectives of Bryce Canyon, too!" and then I looked at the link...

oh man, Doug Cooper is the best drawing teacher EVER. Glad you benefitted from him, too.

Doug Cooper was good, but I still think the workload he gave us was way more than it needs to be. I rather draw 12 good sketches than 40 half-ass ones.

deloozer...

so i found this thread to be interesting...but that noone has directly
answered your question...here are a couple things i found to be
extremely helpful in learning how to draw...or learning how to draw
well. i think years of practice and a general interest are imperative
in becoming a better artist, obviously.

1. warmup. do excercises initially on large newsprint type paper
that is fast/furious full range of motion drawing. your arm should
move all the way to the shoulder...use charcoal or something that's
not a fine point...something that can move quickly across the paper.
do about five to ten minutes of fast pace drawing. you should be
looking at the paper every five or six strokes..the intent is not to
get a perfect likeness, but to be looking at the object and starting
to get see the object as opposed to drawing it well. as well as to
warm up your arm and loosen you up.

2. excercises:
a. an excercise that's always stuck with me is a drawing of picasso's
of stravinsky..common excercise..you take the drawing flip it upside
down and attempt to draw it upside down. this takes away a lot of
the problems of seeing things as a face/body and make it more
abstract. it also helps you to relate objects to one another without
seeing a face or a hand. i still use this today whenever i have
trouble drawing a face..if i don't get it after a while i'll turn it upside
down and try to get it that way.

b. negative space. another common excercise. draw the negative
space of the object instead of the object itself. instead of drawing
the leaf draw the air around the leaf..the sky and clouds behind the
leaf...etc. easiest way to learn this is with a chair.

c. shadows. more one of my own interests..but the same idea as
above. draw the shadows of the object and use that to define the
object. this is especially relevant in places like rome where the
buildings are brilliant with shadows.

d. don't look at the paper. another common excercise. draw with
one line don't take your pencil off the paper and don't look at what
you're drawing. you're confidence will eventually increase as will
your accuracy.

e. draw straight lines without a ruler. simple to say, but difficult
to do...draw 6-8" lines spaced at about a 1/4" apart...variations
on this include starting light and making it dark..trying to keep each
line the same gradation..this helps with learning various degrees
of pressure..since a lot of drawing is about feel.

3. a general process. start very lightly and then work up...make
the drawing all at the same level and work the drawing so that
it all gradually gets darker...you could also do the opposite drawing
with chalk or the like on black/dark paper. another good way to
make your mind think/see in a different way.

overall i would say that the main thing to learn is to draw in loose
strokes. i think the most common mistake of someone learning
to draw is short strokes looking at the paper and the object about
the same amount of time. do the opposite.

hopefully these aren't too obvious..but i think they're what i would
start with. if you need something more specific let me know.

here's some of my work:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/larslarson/

that's pretty cool stuff, dude.

lars,

great!

Ahh...doug...where would I be without the drawings he made me do...Best were the "excursions" we were required to do. I still remember, sitting on a street in Oakland, trying to draw with gloves on, as it lightly started to snow...

But, to be serious, it was a great class, and he really did teach people how to draw...regardless of talent, he made most people effective communicators, at a minimum....

nice work lars. reminds me of kolhaas' nephews stuff, here

thought he was the shit...
gave MDLER a bad grade...
now designing tract homes and cant dress worth a damn...

fulcrum, dammson and jump...

thanks! wasn't trying to hijack...just showin my stuff.
if anyone wants to own an original 'larson' drop me an email...
very reasonably priced...especially since my apartment is small and
there are about sixty of them hangin around. [end of advertisement]

jump,
looks like good stuff on that website...i don't do any computer illustration though...seems to be a similar vein to mine i agree. i like the recent movies that have come out that use that technology that turns film into an illustrated movie. maybe someday i'll start working that way.

No.
I took correspondence.

How do I deal with drawing?

Self esteem is at an all time low.

I can't transcend the stereotypical way of drawing something. Representation escapes me. They have labeled me with the "artistic tempermant" (a positive of negative connotation? I am not sure...) because of my style and ideas, yet I can't shut off the left brain and "see." I stare at these objects for hours and try to draw, but I am so critical of every line I put down on paper that I am unable to go forward. I erase and try again. I have consulted so many books on drawing, and I have still not found a method that has worked for me.

Has anyone ever experienced this way? What the fuck is wrong with me? I feel so fucking stupid, I want to cry.

you probably need a good teacher, guywise. one like some of those described above. probably someone who's going to really give you some tough critique. as myriam said, drawing can absolutely be taught.

first comment would be to turn off your self-edit function: ...so critical of every line i put down.... the betty edwards techniques start to help with this. drawing things upside down, drawing things wrong-handed, etc can help with this, but having someone over your shoulder telling you that you're drifting back into habits may be necessary for you.

drawing is not necessarily natural or easy. even for those who seem to have some innate talent with it, it takes practice. i notice that my drawing suffers when i neglect to just do it on a regular basis.

larslarson posted some helpful exercises above. as with writing, with drawing there are ways to try and 'unblock' the inhibiting self-edit tendency. (in the world of writing there are techniques like freewriting, where you sit and just write write write for a period of time without thinking or stopping.)

"I erase and try again."

as a person who is pretty inhibited about drawing, I found I was much better able to sketch when switching to ink. not allowed to erase! just keep going! I'm currently leafing through "Graphic Thinking for Architects and Designers" by Paul Laseau and it says right here:

"although pencil can certainly be used for sketching, I prefer felt-tip or ink pens because the lines they produce are simple and clear. if a line is in the wrong place, it is quite evident. because the line cannot be erased, it must be redrawn to get it right. this process of repetition and checking against the subject develops skill. drawings that are so light they can be ignored or erased deny the designer the feedback essential to his improvement."

i'd recomend the book, which has a lot of useful ideas (I've only started to look through it) except that you've looked through books and they only seem to stymie you further. i'd suggest, get out there with the sketchbook and the pen and NO other distractions and just draw a zillion pages. turn the page and try again.

sometimes there is some psychological work you have to do in order to unblock. this is uncomfortable to think about, but it's important to identify the real source of the problem.

lars-

love your stuff...

could you tell us a little about the medium and your process?

ignoring kindergardem and maybe 1st & 2nd grades and thereabouts, i was my 1st drawing instructor. i drew a lot from elementary thru my early 30's. most have been conceptual. most of those were 3d or semi-qualitative spatial "analysis".

otherwise, formal instruction:
high school. funny older guy who drew "sick" toons as examples.
high school drafting by stereotypical retro-60's "nerd" (slightly amped reaganesque doop doo).



university, one nude drawing semester. (female instructor, so most classes provided a male model, #@!$@#!!)

some LA graphics courses (standard curricula), though this is not really drawing per se.

from jeris to geritol.

jump.
yeah, art can't be taught, but dwg tech can be (imo)
and, math has to be practiced,too.

me.
"kindergardem?" wtf is kindergardem ? :-)

searching ball-point, etc, i can't find the thread about drawing instruments. but that thread was worth reading.


larslarson.
nice summary of recommended exercises.
i skimmed, but if not yet mentioned: try drawing with your "other' hand.

guywise.
you might try "eyes closed" technique in order to stall the 'unproductively critical of each line' hindrance.

related to shadows and 3d to 2d, another exercise: traceover photos.

similar exercise: cutoff parts of a photo. tape to paper. draw the missing parts (make it weird)

when I first moved to NYC took a great drawing class at the art student league. Best $90 I spent in the big apple...

Practice, practice practice... lars nailed it.

I agree with larslarson – although I am self-taught in the drawing realm, I agree with Lars that if you want to learn how to draw, focus on drawing the negative space and try drawing upside down. If you need a book reference, I really think you should go with everyone's suggestions and pick up the Edwards book. Give it a try - it can't hurt.

oxbow

medium is acyriic on mdf...can't handle the slow drying time and smell of
oil paints. process is pretty simple..i paint an initial layout with an dark orange
cheap paint. use it to get the basic lines/shading etc. then i go in with the color
working and reworking until i'm happy. i paint faces out of magazines..photos
i take..etc. i don't paint live cause i like how photos make things flat and
simplified. anyway..that's about it let me know if you wanna know anything
else. i also use golden acrylic..don't believe in any other paint. it's got a
heavy body and is really nice and smooth.

lars

thanks for the info. they've got a great graphic quality that I really love, and I like the subject matter as well. Have you ever tried anything in a similar style just using india ink or even watercolor? just curious...

oxbow...i tried to email you so as not to completely thread hijack,
but apparently your email is no longer the same.

i don't really work in india ink or watercolor...my paintings are a bit too
anal for that...i don't usually go with the 'happy accident'...my line
is very controlled and strong..although maybe i could benefit from
a looser line. i do like the textural quality of those media, but i
don't know if i'd go crazy due to lack of control. the closest i've
gotten is the painting on the back of the pencil drawings..it's
more or less a wash of acrylic..but it's still secondary to very
controlled linework.

btw. let me know if you're interested in buying a painting..i have
far too many and have found ways in the past to make my
paintings available to people that show interest. i.e. i sell them
for 100-300. money isn't important, unless i really love the piece,
the most important thing is that the person loves the work and
they promise not to resell it..or at least keep it for a while.

cheers
karl (larslarson)

walter merrill harvey. a self styled designer with flw influence was my first design instructor at cosumnes river college in sacramento, california. he lived in a boat house on sacramento river and i was fascinated with his work and wanted to be like him when i grow up.
i designed my first ever house and did a watercolor drawing influenced by his teachings in 1977.
i found it the other day in my storage boxes. just before i did this design, i saw my first and real flw house on carmel beach. the trees were pretty bad but house had a nice plan. it sat on some imaginary river property.
i've long forgatten how to draw.

at art college our life model was a wrinkly lady with a sagging body, all except these HUGE fake breasts which stuck out of her body at jaunty angles. Every time i drew her i tried to adjust her breasts so the didn't look quite so bizarre, my art instructor would come round and redraw them in their full glory over the top.

when I took my portfolio to my architeture interview I found myself having to explain their unorthodox scale and apparent gravity defying weirdness compared to the rest of the drawing.
it made for a funny interview